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Justin Kozisek, a staffer for the Star Wars Action News podcast, bought a $6.94 Rey toy at Walmart and posted a photo of it to Facebook, and he and his SWAN colleagues were surprised to get a DMCA notice from Disney/Lucasfilm claiming that they had infringed copyright by posting a photo of their toy. (more…)

September's court ruling that Warner Chapell Music didn't hold the copyright to "Happy Birthday" was swiftly followed by a claim from the Association for Childhood Education International, a nonprofit established to administer the money that Warner Chapell extorted through its fraudulent claims. (more…)

25 years into creating my comic strip “Tom the Dancing Bug,” I’ve just embarked on another venture: writing books for kids. My series of books, The EMU Club Adventures, began in April with Alien Invasion in My Backyard, and the second installment, Ghostly Thief of Time, was released last month.Now, “Tom the Dancing Bug” is certainly not for kids, but writing for kids was something I’ve always wanted to do. I love kids’ literature and culture, and I love kids; if I’m at a gathering of friends and family, you’ll probably find me laughing it up with the kids. But as I started this new task, I was kind of worried about whether I could write for an audience that wasn’t me. My comic strip is pretty much what I would want to read – would consciously writing for another audience render the work stilted, off-target, or even pandering? I once saw Maurice Sendak, one of the very greatest children’s authors ever, tell Stephen Colbert in an interview, “I don’t write for children. I write – and somebody says, ‘That’s for children!’”Well, I’ve spent a lot of years showing myself what I write, and it’s usually satirical or absurdist takes on things like income inequality, religion, and the new economy. None of which a kid with any good sense would have any interest in. As I began my project, I happened to go to a panel discussion of children’s authors at the New York Public Library, because some of my kids’ favorite authors were participating. A question was posed to the panel: “Do you write for yourself, or for children?” One after another, these accomplished authors repeated Sendak’s sentiment: they write totally for themselves, and then, lo and behold, it is children who enjoy the product. It struck me as kind of odd, because one of them had even written an ABC book. Is that really the book she would have written, regardless of intended audience? When the question came to Jules Feiffer, a legendary cartoonist/playwright for adults who became a children’s book author later in life, he gave the very simple answer that blew my mind and became my North Star in writing my books. He answered: “Both. I write for the kid in me.”Maybe it’s the very reason I wanted to write kidlit, but I happen to have a kid in me, and I don’t have to dig very deep to find him.I ended up writing exactly the books I would have liked when I was a kid: funny adventure stories about a gang of kids in fantastic situations, full of plot twists and surprises. Secret tunnels, ghostly visions, aliens and robots.And they are exactly the books that the kid currently in me likes.In addition, I realize now that when I write “Tom the Dancing Bug,” I’m not really writing for some abstract, whole “me.” I’m writing for the adult in me – that part of me that is interested in sketch comedy, absurdist humor and political and social satire.But, speaking of plot twists, here’s the M. Night Shyamalan-type kicker at the end of the story: It turns out that even as I wrote my very grownup comic strip for 25 years, I’ve been also writing for the kid in me the whole time!When I want to write about income inequality, I use “funny animal” Carl Barks-like comic book characters.When I use strange, absurdist humor, it’s often contrasting something dark or ridiculous against a children’s medium, such as daily comic strips.When I want to write about religion, I use a brightly colored, caped superhero.When I want to write about the new economy and its effect on employment, I use a Richard Scarry picture book format.One of my main (maybe only!) techniques as a satirist is to juxtapose the innocence of children’s culture with a darker point about adult world. The difference is that in my kids’ books, I don’t subvert kid-culture, I create it. I play in it.Writing these books was one of the most joyful experiences of my career. Like my three kid characters, I’ve been on a brand new adventure, looking at the world in a different way and taking risks.I feel like a kid again.Ruben Bolling’s “Tom the Dancing Bug” premieres on Boing Boing every week.

It’s mid-December folks. Like a bullet train. White knuckle time. With parties in motion and merry children abound, it’s time to jump on the fast track with those holiday gifts. And Wink’s gift guide is your golden ticket. The fun stuff on this week’s list focuses on the kiddos in your life. (For grown-ups, check out Gareth Branwyn’s Picks and Cheapies But Goodies Under $20.)JuxtaboAges 6 and up$30Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesMuch like a colorful, 3D version of dominoes, Juxtabo has simple rules that allow children as young as six years old to play. The strategy encourages development of quick pattern recognition, but also flexibility as you plan, since the "board" changes with every turn… Juxtabo is the recipient of the 2015 Academics' Choice Brain Toy Award …avid puzzlers beware – Juxtabo just may prove addictive! – Chloe QuimbyHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Editionby J.K. Rowling (author) and Jim Kay (illustrator)(Arthur A. Levine Books)$24Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesYou may have read Harry Potter before, but you've never read it like this. Almost every page features some kind of full-color illustration by artist Jim Kay. Illustrations come in a wide variety of forms, ranging from small page ornamentations to whole page spreads. The full-page illustrations have a ton of detail and color and will likely make you stop mid-page to appreciate them. It never occurred to me that Harry Potter required illustrations, but after reading this it's clear why someone thought they would make for a good experience. – Alex StrineThe Sneaky Snacky Squirrel GameAges 3-7$15Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesA children's game where the first squirrel to forage enough acorns to fill up their log before winter wins!… While luck plays a large role in this game, there are some simple strategies which young players will quickly learn to impede other players or increase their chances of winning. The game is a fun way to practice color matching, sorting, and turn taking… The Sneaky, Snacky, Squirrel Game is at the top of my recommendation list for fun preschool-aged games that the whole family will love to play. – Mike EvansStar Wars Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxyby Matthew Reinhart(Orchard Books)$20Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesPop-up artist Matthew Reinhart captures the brilliance and excitement of Star Wars with this pop-up Guide to the Galaxy. The intricate renderings of Star Wars characters, creatures and vehicles are truly a work of art, and the book's cool interactive goodies like 3D pull-outs and a map of the galaxy are just plain fun. The grand finale battle between rebel hero Luke Skywalker and Sith Lord Darth Vader is complete with illuminated (really!) light sabers… This book is a fantastic gift for a Star Wars fan of any age. – Mary WozniakZOOBAges 6 and up$25Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesZOOB is the first construction set I've seen that encourages organic, free-flowing builds. There are five basic ZOOB shapes centered on a ball-and-socket connection. When you click them together you have full 180-degree freedom in how the connection is oriented, leading to creations that are curvy, complicated, or ones that repeat like vertebrate in a spine, or carbons on a chain, or even amino acids on DNA… The plastic pieces are largish, unlike lego, so the finished forms can be quite hefty. – Kevin KellyCabinet of Curiosities: Collecting and Understanding the Wonders of the Natural Worldby Gordon Grice(Workman Publishing)$17Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesThe term "cabinet of curiosities" means different things to different people. For the author of this wonderful book for kids, it was a cigar box full of treasures that he started accumulating at the age of six, beginning with the found skull of a skunk… This book focuses on the natural wonders only, and, specifically, those waiting out there to be found by the young scientists, collectors, and curators of tomorrow…This is a beautifully illustrated book that will undoubtedly spark the curiosity in any kid who reads it. – Aaron DowneyBrock MagiscopeAges 5 and up$178Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesAfter several years of looking for a microscope suitable for a busy family I found one: The Brock Magiscope #70. It has a single-moving part that my 5-year-old son could handle. He could put a leaf in and focus it right. The viewing field is amazingly bright and clear, good enough for high school work… We can press the lens of a smart phone to its eyepiece, and get pretty good microphotography shots. Best of all it is practically indestructible. The thing is simple and rugged as a hammer. It was built for the abuse of K-12 classrooms, which is probably as grating as a war. – Kevin KellyBuild Your Own Gotcha Gadgets: Electronic Gizmos to Play 20 Tricksby Ben Grossblatt(Klutz)$21Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesBuild Your Own Gotcha Gadgets comes with a multifunction electronic circuit, wires, and sensors that kids can use to build a variety of pranksterish devices: A cookie jar that sounds an alarm when the lid is removed, an electronic whoopie cushion, an intrusion detector, a fake lie detector, and more. Once you try a few projects from the book, it wouldn't be hard to come up with other ways to use the components, both mischievous and mild. – Mark FrauenfelderOlympian's Boxed Setby George O'Connor(First: Second)$44Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesThe author and publisher definitely designed these books to be taught to young people… The six volumes come in a handsome slipcase, which also includes a large full-color poster of the pantheon on one side and an extensive Olympian family tree on the other. Although these books are in comic book form, with spare dialog, they still manage to pack in a lot of story and paint a fairly complete portrait of each god. I wish I'd had these books when I was a kid. – Gareth BranwynMini OgoSport DiscsAges 4 and up$25Buy on Amazon • Full review and more imagesLike miniature portable trampolines, these 12-inch discs can send the "ball" (a rubber stringy pom) bouncing higher than a hundred feet and are perfect for a game of Ogo-style volleyball (volleying without a net or formal rules). You can also throw a disc like a Frisbee, or play it like paddle ball without the attached elastic string. Fun for all ages! – Carla Sinclair

There’s a new Genius Bar in town, and it’s serving up the good stuff. (more…)

In 1981, Harvard law professor Roger Fisher, director of the Harvard Negotiation Project, published a thought experiment in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists: what if the codes to launch nuclear war were kept inside the chest-cavity of a young volunteer, and the President would have to hack them out of this young man's chest before he could commence armageddon? (more…)

This week's Radio Motherboard podcast (MP3) talks with Matthew Mitchell, a former data journalist who organizes Harlem Cryptoparty, a regular training meeting for black activists who want to learn to defend themselves against the burgeoning police/DHS practice of racially profiling black activists through targeted surveillance.Though social media surveillance is a modern phenomenon, the US government has a long and shameful history of surveilling black activists (see, for example, the FBI's attempt to convince Martin Luther King to kill himself). Harlem Cryptoparty is an attempt to help black people armor themselves against everyday surveillance, promoted through barbershops, hair salons, black churches and flyers in the neighborhood.2:24 Mitchell explains why a cryptography meetup makes sense in Harlem.5:05 In order to reach the Harlem community, you have to recruit offline.7:55 Cryptoparties and privacy events are still rare in the inner city in predominantly black and Latino communities, even though it’s not just a hypothetical threat. “You’re worried about, hey this guy threw me against a wall, flashed a badge at me, took my phone, he said if I gave him the phone he’ll let me walk, otherwise I have to do paper work. What was he doing with it?”9:40 Nusrat Choudury from the ACLU’s Racial Justice program joins us. She wrote this piece, “The Government Is Watching #BlackLivesMatter, And It’s Not Okay.”12:40 There is a pattern throughout history of the government using the fear of threats to conduct surveillance on “people who look or act different.”15:30 A private security firm called Zero Fox collected information on protesters in Baltimore and labeled some “high severity physical threats.”The Black Community Needs Encryption [Adrianne Jeffries/Vice]

From a very young age, the illusion of motion fascinated me.I would spend hours and hours destroying the books in my parents' library by creating crude, hand-drawn flipbooks in the margins. Pictured below is a rare 1890s sketch of my hands at work during the creative process.This sort of activity helped set the stage for what would be a career-long pursuit. I tinkered with countless pieces of art that would make up just a moment of entertainment for anyone willing to take notice.We're all enticed by beautiful patterns, pleasing repetitions and a concisely-delivered story. Here are a few tales that are told in just 12 frames apiece. My favorite is the 3 horizontal strip from the top. It’s the one of the man happily dancing in place, while passing his severed head to his clone, who does the same ad infinitum.It is, as all of these are, simply beautiful!And that brings me to the Zoeflix, which hits the nerve of what I love in so many ways.1) It’s beautiful to look at and hold2) It’s made of wood and not plastic3) It moves and operates by my own force4) It’s an artistic platform where I can make my very own 12 frame animations5) It has a great historyThe Zoeflix is essentially a Zoetrope device that, when spun, produces an illusion called the phi phenomenon. This is the optical illusion of perceiving a series of still images as a continuous motion when viewed in rapid succession.https://youtu.be/nGoXYhmmiVsThe Zoetrope has had many names over the years and I’m going to explore a few of them here. Firstly, the word zoetrope has Greek roots with the words zoe, “life” and tropos “turning”. Because of this, it became known as the “Wheel of Life”.The faster you spin the device, the smoother the illusion becomes—and the name “Wheel of Life” is perfect for obvious reasons.But the Zoetrope was first called a daedatelum by its inventor, George Horner, in 1834. The name was a reference to Daedalus, the most amazing sculptor/inventor in Greek mythology. He famously carved figurines so lifelike that people thought they could and would move.In the same way that Daedalus was thought to bring life to the inanimate, so did George Horner with his invention. Back then, the device was known as “The wheel of the Devil”. His invention didn’t become widely known until after his death, when a man named William F. Lincoln promoted the device in America as the Zoetrope. Changing the name was a smart move since any campaign around selling a product with the devil as its mascot might be seen as off putting.But then again, who could forget the famous Underwood Deviled Ham campaign of 1953? I Certainly can’t!You may remember from your Greek Myth class that Daedalus caused the death of his only son. Daedalus lived in Crete and was the lone man who knew the layout of the labyrinth he created to contain the Minotaur for King Minos.Because of this special knowledge, he was shut up in a tower with his son, Icarus, so that the secret would not be revealed.To liberate themselves, Daedalus fashioned a set of wings with feathers, string and wax and learned to fly. Upon their escape, Icarus flew too close to the sun, which made the wax on his wings melt. As a result he fell into and drowned in the sea.Daedalus became horrified at this and cursed his own inventiveness. Athena took pity on the now devastated Daedalus and visited him. As his reward for killing his only son, she gave him real wings so that he could fly like a god… which was nice. I guess she felt that he needed a constant reminder of what he’d done.With that, it’s very clear what my first Zoeflix animation will be! It’ll be of Daedelus forever hovering in the air while gently flapping his wings - the reason will be our little secret.I'm convinced that anyone who touches this device will fall in love with it, and unlike an old View-Master where only one person at a time can partake in the magic, a Zoeflix animation can be viewed from 360 degrees.The $49.00 package comes with 14 different animation sheets and a beautiful light fixture on the bottom of the lid that makes viewing in the dark even better.The folks at the Ancient Magic Art Tools website have a $14.99 option for those who want a cheaper option.

Late on Thursday, a jury found a former Oklahoma City cop accused of sexually assaulting and raping 13 women guilty of rape and sexual battery.Daniel Holtzclaw, who turned 29 on Thursday, cried as the guilty verdict was read in the courtroom. (more…)

https://youtu.be/wZYa9ZKZeDkYou can now view NASA rocket launch videos in 4K high-definition glory, online. (more…)

Redditor ShayGoes2Work posted this amazing shot of “Zane, 10 year old rescue dog,” wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Whatever you think of guns control, Obama's assertion that "Closing the No-Fly List loophole is a no-brainer" is pretty brainless. (more…)

A new Pew report analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors finds that America's middle class has shrunk to the smallest share of the US population for the first time in four decades; while the share of national wealth owned by the middle class has dwindled and the share of wealth controlled by the rich has grown. The number of poor Americans has also grown, as middle class families slip into poverty. (more…)

"Chakra the Invincible" is the third installment in a series from the UNICEF-backed Comics Uniting Nations. It's aimed at kids and young people, and presents a diverse global perspective on the causes and results of climate change. (more…)

Chubb's new troll rider on its elite personal insurance package for its wealthiest customers now offers up to £50,000 to cover the cost of counselling, lost income, and professional anti-troll services (forensics, reputation management) for people who are targeted by online harassers. (more…)

Serial, the most talked-about show in the history of podcasting, has launched its second season. This time, producer Sarah Koenig worked with filmmaker Mark Boal to tell the story of U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl's five-year imprisonment with the Taliban in Afghanistan. I haven't listened to the first episode, but I hope it includes an update about the subject of the first season - the murder of a Maryland high school student, and her convicted killer's insistence that he is innocent.

Matt Taibbi is on fire as ever in Rolling Stone, analyzing the weird relationship between Donald Trump and the media: he does politics in just the way that cable news reports on it: disjointedly, without empathy or nuance or complexity. Unlike polished American politicos, Donald Trump is a TV watcher, and he knows how to speak to his people. (more…)

After U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump demanded a ban on Muslims entering the country, a parliamentary petitioner set out to ban him from entering the U.K—and soon earned enough votes to mandate a government responce.Chancellor George Osborne criticised Mr Trump's comments but rejected calls for him to be banned from the UK.A counter-petition, set up on Wednesday, saying Mr Trump should not be banned as it would be "totally illogical" has attracted more than 9,000 signatures.Any petition with more than 100,000 signatures is automatically considered for debate in Parliament.Other, more concrete measures to disavow the reality TV star, real estate mogul and racist orange flossbeast have already been taken: a Scottish college rescinded an honorary degree while the Scottish parliament sacked him as a "business ambassador".Block Donald J Trump from UK entry [petition.parliament.uk]

In 1974, the US National Institute on Drug Abuse commissioned sf giant Robert Silverberg to research and write Drug Themes in Science Fiction," a survey of 75 sf stories and novels that included fictional psychoactive drugs. (more…)

Today Freedom of the Press Foundation is proud to announce a new crowd-funding campaign that will fund local journalists around the United States to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other transparency lawsuits aimed at uncovering video evidence of police misconduct and brutality against unarmed men and women. You can donate to the fund here. (more…)

From the fundamentals - like learning the MySQL language- to utilizing today's top technologies like MongoDB, this bundle is the best thing you can do for your career. Big data is an extremely hot topic, and understanding it from front to back will make you an asset to any company. Gain access to all 7 courses, and start providing valuable insights based on concrete data using the top tools available!Save 94% on the essential data mastery bundle.Here's everything included in the bundle: 1Projects in MongoDB: Learn MongoDB Building 10 Projects$199 Value2Learning SQL, MySQL & Databases Is Easy$99 Value3SQL Server Fast Track for Novices: Tables$99 Value4Taming Big Data with MapReduce & Hadoop$89 Value5Collect, Extract & Use Online Data Quickly and More Easily$79 Value6Beginner's Guide to PostgreSQL$49 Value7MySQL Database Training for Beginners$47 ValueGet the essential data mastery bundle for 94% off in the Boing Boing store.

Emptystate.es celebrates "Empty States," those moments in a user's app experience where there's no data to display yet, or an error has occurred. Empty States are actually a great moment to delight or engage the user yet this piece of UX design is frequently left as an afterthought or blown off entirely. (Thanks, UPSO!)

https://youtu.be/KU_Jdts5rL0Auralnaut's "Darth Trump" used "100% all natural Trump sound bites" to make this excellent short film.

Here are the New York Times' 50 most interesting stories, measured by the total combined time readers have spent looking at them. I haven't read most of these, so I'm going to bookmark this page.It’s a mix ofambitious investigative projects, big breaking news, features and servicejournalism. You can see the big themes of the last year, like race, terrorismand technology — but also the things we found captivating, like the taleof a solitary man who died alone and a step-by-step guide for falling inlove. Leading the list is that Modern Love column, which people havespent close to 900,000 hours reading. That’s equal to roughly 100 years.

Meghan writes, "You've probably never been kept awake at night worrying about a European Commission communication. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be. Today the Commission published its roadmap for EU copyright reform, and despite the fanfare around portability of Netflix, it's clear that the bad idea known as 'ancillary copyright' has come back -- from the dead! -- to haunt us." (more…)

From Coachella 2008. When fans over the years previously posted this video from Coachella 2008, Prince sent DMCA takedown notices. But when Radiohead's Thom Yorke was asked about the matter, he responded: "Really? He’s blocked it? Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song." It was recently uploaded again and now Prince has Tweeted his approval. Prince’s Cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ Will Haunt You In The Best Way Possible -- https://t.co/5P6EhxogxI pic.twitter.com/dOjX5lKTja— Prince3EG (@Prince3EG) December 9, 2015

When Hunter Oatman-Stanford began working on an article about Neil Kaplan's collection of old passports, we had no idea his story would be so timely. Alas, the acts of terrorism in Paris, followed by the backlash against Syrian refugees, and then a certain political candidate's proposal to block all Muslims from immigrating to the land of the free, has given Kaplan's collection of old paper new meaning. Of the 2,000 passports in Kaplan's collection, most show how shabbily Jews were treated while trying to escape the Holocaust during World War II, although a few also reveal acts of great bravery by customs officials who knew that if they followed the rules, the person standing before them would likely die in a concentration camp.From Collectors WeeklyHow did specific diplomats use their position to save lives during periods of conflict?Kaplan: Toward the end of the ’30s and into the beginning of World War II, most countries were very strict with their visa-issuing. I think these regulations were implemented specifically to prevent Jews from arriving in those countries. Sometime in October 1941, the Germans decided not to permit any Jews to leave their territory. They were implementing the Final Solution, so they weren’t allowing Jews to escape.But at the time, several diplomats had something in them most people don’t, and decided to do the right, honorable thing—not to follow the rules and orders given by their foreign ministry. Many people who are under pressure or in danger decide not to help others, or freeze up because they’re not accustomed to this type of situation. Yet these diplomats understood that people’s lives were involved, and because of their integrity, they decided to act.Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese vice-consul stationed in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1939 to supervise the German and Russian forces as part of the Axis powers, and report back to Tokyo. Sugihara was given a “no” from the foreign ministry in Tokyo, but he still decided to help. The Soviets would not allow Lithuanians to cross into Siberia without a final destination, so Sugihara worked together with the Dutch consul in Lithuania to issue a ridiculous visa for travel to Curaçao, which was a small Dutch colony in the Caribbean. Once that was inside the passport, it was easy for Sugihara to give them a transit visa to Japan, where they could catch the boat to Curaçao, though the majority stayed in Japan.

Illustrator Doogie Horner has a new book out called Some Very Interesting Cats Perhaps You Weren’t Aware Of. He says its a c"ollection of illustrated short stories about 100 impossible cat characters. Like the Alien cat, Xort, who reports back to his planet: 'Have trained my humans to feed and pet me. They suspect nothing.' Or the Mountain Climber cat, Snowball, who is planning a perilous route up the North Curtain to Mt. Bookcase. Or Mystico, the Magician cat—no one could figure out how he sawed a dog in half. (The answer was simple: He didn’t like dogs.)"Doogie asked me if I'd like him to draw some special cats for Boing Boing, and I told him I'd like some cats as Walking Dead characters. And he drew them! Can you tell who the cats represent?

Today's internet bubble wrap is Koalas to the Max. Mouseover or tap colored circles to make them subdivide into four more colored circles, and keep going until the koala is visible. Then start over!It was made by Vadim Ogievetsky for Annie Albagli.

A smile can speak a thousand words but those words may remain in the wilderness if the recipient doesn’t speak human. Of course animals have many ways in which to interpret our emotions and intentions. They can listen to our voices, smell our bodily chemicals, touch us with their paws, hands and claws, taste us with their overworked tongues and they can see us with observant eyes. They can see us. This final sense is quite curious when we are thinking about animals watching us. What is it they are actually seeing? We know they understand many forms of visible body language but what about our faces? Is there any evidence they understand anything from our facial expressions and if there is, what would they be basing their understanding on? Is there anything we could do to aid their understanding of our facial expressions? Racing ahead, what would any inter-species facial communication between humans and animals mean for possible future meetings with extra-terrestrials? Let’s begin by looking at some of the evidence available. In 2004, the Journal of Comparative Psychology published the results of a study that showed dolphins instinctively comprehend human gazing to the extent that they understand the difference between what the study called static gazing and dynamic gazing. Static gazing being an idle stare with no action required and dynamic gazing meaning a gaze that prompted the dolphins to interact with an object. No verbal commands or prior training were needed for the dolphins to comprehend the difference. If you think that’s impressive, check out the work of Professor John Marzluff at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2008, Professor Marzluff led a group of researchers for a walk in the park. He separated the group in to two teams with one team wearing a particular type of mask and the other team wearing another type. The park has a population of crows and one team were charged with trapping the crows while the second team were just asked to walk on by. In 2013, Marzluff led two teams with the same masks in to the same park. The team wearing the masks that were worn during the trapping of 2008 were ambushed by shrieking, hysterical crows, many of whom were not even present at the original trapping five years earlier. Marzluff also worked with Dr. Barbara Clucas of Humboldt State University on a study that proved that American crows react differently to approaching people according to whether or not the person is gazing at them or away from them. If an approaching person is looking at them, they take off a lot faster. Interestingly, whether the person is smiling or scowling seemed irrelevant. Dr. Clucas also has experience studying squirrels in unrelated studies. Aside from gazing, I asked Dr. Clucas if there was any evidence that some crows or squirrels interpret human facial expressions in a particular way. “Apart from that study with crows, I have not done other studies on the topic. Anecdotally, I have noticed similar behaviour in other bird species (ravens, jays, etc). Although I haven't tested it in squirrels, I would suspect that because their vision is not as good as that of birds, they probably wouldn't be able to detect if a human eyes were looking at them versus looking the other way. They might react to a human whose face is facing them versus being turned away. Indeed there are many studies showing that mammals and reptiles react differently when a human face is facing them.” There was a study published earlier this year which showed some dogs understood the differences between human faces showing anger and those showing happiness. I wondered, regardless of what animals would understand from our facial expressions, what might their interpretations be based upon? Dr. Kun Guo of the University of Lincoln in the UK, has done a lot of research on interactions between animals and humans so I thought he would be a good man to ask. “Very good question. ‘Don’t know’ will be our current answer. If I have to guess, I will say ‘based on the interaction between innate bias and prior learning from humans through experience / development’. You need to test wolf (evolutionary approach) and puppy (developmental approach) to answer this.” We have established that crows can recognize and remember human faces and they can also comprehend targeted and untargeted gazing. The evidence that they can decipher human facial expressions is limited but there are hints that this might be the case. I asked Dr. Clucas what might they be basing their interpretations of human facial expressions on? “Well, I didn't find that the American crows responded differently to a smiling versus scowling face, however, laboratory studies have shown that a related species, jungle crows can discriminate male and female faces as well as a smiling face from a blank face. So I believe American crows likely are capable of learning to distinguish facial expressions. They are likely capable of such things because they are very social and use visual signals in their own conspecific communication (within species communication).” While conducting the research for this article, I learned that the mere idea that our facial expressions represent emotions at all is not a universally accepted fact. Dr Eliza Bliss-Moreau of the University of California has done a lot of work with rhesus monkeys and people interacting together. I asked her some questions on her work but she had a question for me: “Are you familiar with the large human literature which calls into question the fact that faces represent emotions at all? Your questions are all predicated on the idea that emotions correspond to faces in a one-to-one way, and therefore emotions can be "read". But that's not the case.” Clearly, there are a lot of barriers between inter-species communication and this includes facial expressions. So is there anything we can do to help animals understand our faces better? Many domestic cats have an image of being cold in nature due to them consistently presenting straight faces but it has actually be proven that this usually means they are in a relaxed state. I asked Dr. Guo if mimicking their facial expressions be useful to relay our intentions? “Very interesting thoughts. It could work if we can understand animal’s emotion first and the relations between animal’s emotion and their facial expression. Some animals, like cats, have limited ranges of facial muscle movements, which make their facial expressions less informative about their emotion / feeling / mood.” I think this is a subject worthy of further exploration, especially in an age when we are now putting some serious money into searching for extra-terrestrial life in the universe. What if some intelligent life in the universe does not use verbal language? Carl Sagan once made the valid point that dolphins have learned to understand many words in English but no human has ever learned one word of Dolphinese. Until we do that, it could be useful to study animal understanding of our facial expressions more, even if only to eliminate possibilities of facial communication between species. And don’t mess with the crows man.Image: Wikipedia

Get "a present, or two, or ten" for yourself this Christmas with the Boing Boing Gift Guide.

Yahoo sport columnist Dan Wetzel checked into a Marriott, something he does a lot, and was bewildered to discover that his room didn't have a desk. When he called down to the reception, he discovered that the whole chain was gradually removing its desks, because some consultants told them that Millennials like to chill on couches with their phones, not sit at desks like square-ass Old People. (more…)

Koaning.io used Markov chains, a kind of stochastic modeling more famously used to generate pseudo-meaningful written text, to show that the board game Monopoly is heavily imbalanced by the "go to jail" mechanic. Monopoly is still a game of chance and there are many dimensions that we did not simulate… Still, one clear result of this simulation is that you should keep an eye on that orange street. It should provide a very steady flow of income.A worthy project would be to provide a solid computer model to show that the board game Monopoly ruins Christmas.

Cops covertly buy stolen cards from underground sites to figure out where they came from, and so these sites implement security measures that try to figure out whether a purchaser is an undercover cop, and refuse to sell to them if they trip a positive result. (more…)

In a major policy change that sounds like a Very Good Idea, the U.S. Army announced today that dog tags will no longer include the Social Security numbers of the soldier wearing them. SSNs have been part of this identification system for over 40 years. (more…)

https://youtu.be/XSaaa_OBkzwLove these Heavy Metal Parking Lot style man-on-the-street supercuts from late 20th century local TV news. Literally can't get enough of them. This compilation shows how much fans loved Star Wars Phantom Menace. In a matter of days, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits the screens for 2015.

#DonaldTrump advocates closing up the Internet 2 stop the process of thought/free speech. So Communist China-like. pic.twitter.com/hRab3xpVcK— NotBuffytheVMPslayer (@NotBUFFY_VS) December 8, 2015It's not surprising that Donald Trump thinks censoring the Internet is a great idea. I guess it's not surprising that he thinks Bill Gates has his finger above the kill switch, either. Trump says he can call Bill Gates to "close up" the internet. "We're losing a lot of people because of the internet. We have to see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them about, maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some ways. Somebody will say, 'Oh freedom of speech, freedom of speech.' These are foolish people."[via]

If a burglar got their hands on this book safe ($11 on Amazon) disguised as a dictionary, they would have no trouble breaking it open on the spot. More likely, they'd just take it home and open it there. But if you stick it on a shelf with a lot of real books, and put a book cover on it, it's unlikely to be spotted. It comes with two keys and has a 2 x 5.625 x 9-inch storage area.

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Jeff VanderMeer sends us the latest Storybundle, which has "the DEBUT of Ann VanderMeer's BESTIARY, which features original fiction from China Mieville, Catherynne M. Valente, and many others--not available elsewhere." (more…)

I think we’re all pretty spoiled these days when it comes to bluetooth streaming technology. I can remember waiting in line for one of the first portable, wireless speakers and being disappointed when I finally got it. The syncing was painful, the music cut in and out and the sound quality was iffy.Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a newer, more portable solution but I had to change my expectations. When the tech first came out, our hopes were far too great. We were all looking for a speaker that could fit in the palm of our hand and sound like a home theater system. The iHome Kineta K1 is tiny and it sounds pretty good to boot. But, don’t hold your breath thinking you’re going to match the $2500.00 Kefs in your living room.I’ve been watching the K1 and I’ve seen them priced anywhere from $89.99 - 149.99. At the lower price points it's a perfect speaker for me because of the way I handle my free time around the house.I have a very short attention span and constantly change locations like Billy from the Family Circus Sunday comics.What I love most about the K1 is that when it's set up and my phone is within 10 meters of it, they auto-sync. My other wireless speakers have to be manually reconnected every day.Another great thing about the K1 is that after using it for a few weeks, I haven't had to charge it much - which is saying a lot because each aspect of my life is tied to charging my phone. The folks at iHome say it has up to 12 hours of playtime when you combine the internal battery with the K-cell.What‘s a K-cell you ask? Good question!Cleverly integrated into the speaker, is a rechargeable, removable power bank called the K-cell. This device within a device can be used to power your phone when it’s running out of juice.Better yet, it can even extend the life of the speakers when they’re running low. Let me repeat that last part – the speakers charge the K-cell and then the K-cell can charge the speakers later on!Because the K-cell pops out at your command, it’s like a technological nesting doll. Imagine if they designed an even tinier portable speaker inside the K-cell and then a tinier battery inside that tiny speaker. Sure external battery packs like the K-cell have been around for a while but they haven't been as convenient. I constantly misplace my loose battery packs after I use them because they don’t have a special housing like the K1 provides.The interface is simple but the truth is you don't need to touch it once it's on. The features are controlled by the device that streams the music and that's exactly what you want in a speaker system. Could you imagine having to interact with your home theater speakers every 15 minutes? It would drive you insane.iHome seems to be the front runner of wireless bluetooth technology and right now my favorite one from the bunch is the Kineta K1.

Lyonya Shilovsky, a 3-year-old drummer from Russia, leads an orchestra of grown-ups in this cute 2014 video re-making the viral rounds. (more…)

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. Army is recommending retired general David H. Petraeus not face further punishment for screwing his biographer and leaking top-secret materials to her. (more…)

CISA, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, encourages companies to spy on their customers and hand the data to the government, in secret, with full immunity (including immunity for launching cyberattacks at users). (more…)

Matt "Metafilter" Haughey's got a new election-season pass-time: he's taking photos that GOP politicians post of themselves holding guns and replacing the BFGs with massive sex-toys, exposing a deep and comic truth. (more…)

On Saturday, I stopped in at the incredible Comc Arts LA indie comics fest and came away with a staggering double-load of amazing funnybooks, and the standout from that wonderful haul is Hope Larson's "Solo." (more…)

While large wallets can cause awkward pocket bulges, slim versions that only fit 2-3 cards can be pretty useless. Meet Hover: a thin wallet that both looks good and works like a dream. Easily store at least 10 cards and quickly access them with a “floating" ribbon you pull to drag your cards out of the wallet sleeve. Made of genuine leather and lined with RFID-blocking fiber that blocks on-the-go identity theft, Hover isn’t just your typical wallet—it’s a work of pure craftsmanship.Store at least 10 cards in your walletQuickly extract any card using “floating” card designKeep bills in 3 places: 2 outside sleeves & a middle storageProtect from credit card theft w/ RFID-blocking fiberDiscreetly keep in your pocket: stays invisible when insertedEnjoy the craftsmanship of a genuine leather exteriorSave 30% On The Hover Leather RFID-Protected Wallet[embed]https://youtu.be/5yiia7hvn6E[/embed]